Weekend Reads

This book is so full of win it isn’t even funny. Sarah Wendell, co-creator of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, co-author of Beyond Heaving Bosoms, and pretty much the most awesome person I’ve ever met, explains why everything you need to know about love can be found in a romance novel. Full of snark, Sarah’s trademark wit, and plenty of puns, this book (so far at least!) is a keeper. It also makes me want to beat romance haters around the head with a copy of Lord of Scoundrels until they agree to read it.

I started this book like three weeks ago or something. I remember that I was enjoying it, but then I put it down and haven’t picked it back up yet. I sometimes get tired of Julie Garwood’s plucky and feisty heroines and sometimes overly alpha heroes, so that might be why I’m just now picking it back up. I’ll be glad to cross all the Julie Garwood off my list.

I have soooo got to get the new Sarah Smart Bitches book. I’ve never met her, but admire her for work in promoting romance fiction as “totally cool”, not “totally stupid”.

Yesterday I finished reading The Color of Heaven by E.V. Mitchell, aka Julianne Maclean. It’s true that it’s a hard topic for me to get through right now with the loss of my husband this past summer, but the author deals with personal loss in a 1st POV and handles it well. Really worth the read.

Now I’m plowing through Birthright by Nora Roberts just to get my La Nora fix. So far, so awesome, as usual for me with this author.

Sarah is just as awesome in person as she is online. Meeting her was pretty much the highlight of my summer.

I’ve never read any Mitchell/Maclean. Should I? My sympathies on the loss of your husband. I applaud you for taking such a big step and reading something that must have been truly painful.

Birthright is up there on my list of NR favs. Mostly for the anthropology angle, but it was a solid read. Almost all of her books work for me (even the ones with tons of head hopping!), but Birthright in on my Nora keeper shelf (she gets her own shelf!) which is a pretty big deal when you consider how amazingly prolific she is.

I’m enjoying the snot out of Birthright. Nora’s always been a fave for me, and I tend to enjoy most, if not all, of her books. Her JD Robb series, or what I’ve read of it (maybe the first 5 books or so), are keepers for me. When I got to meet her in D.C. for the RWA convention’s booksigning, I felt like I’d met the president — or something close to that. She’s very down-to-earth and really not impressed with the fame and clamor that her fans attribute to her.

Yes, do try The Color of Heaven. I think it was supposed to have been a straight-to-electronic book , and I think it was the first one under this pseudonym. The book is 1st POV, but from different people, which took me time to get used to. But, before I knew it, I was done with the book and tempted to go right back to the beginning and start over. If I hadn’t had to return it to my library’s digital system, I would’ve.